The Balcony
by Kaylee16
Summary: AU. She continued to watch him, even when he was no longer there. Sasusaku, oneshot.


**The Balcony**

**A Sasusaku fanfiction**

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Beyond my quaint little room, beyond the snow white drapes and curtains, beyond the confining windowsills, lie a balcony...my quiet little sanctuary.

And it was too...where i first saw him.

For reasons unknown to myself, my parents adored the countryside. For them, it was their sanctuary. We moved over to this 'Shangri-La' - as my parents called it - a few years back. It had practically nothing. No internet access, no phone service, not a single electronic device was found. For the first few weeks, I really had to freak out. The sudden culture shock hit me real hard, and I really hated the place. It was nothing but fields of greenery, a few houses by the lane, and all the typical country-stuff you could imagine.

I had no freedom, but I had no rights to complain. My parents wouldn't hear it. I was a caged bird, destined only to roam the skies where my parents are content with.

Whenever I wanted to escape, to run, I would sit alone at the balcony and feel the gentle breeze brush across my face, washing my worries away.

However, having a nice view was something the balcony didn't have. Residential areas at the Shangri-La was found in a whole flock and crowded together. There was a window exactly opposite of mine, belonging to a family I was not really eager to know.

One breezy afternoon, I saw him. Beyond the white curtains, beyond my restricted life.

He was sitting in what I made out to be his room, staring out into the skies in a daze. I saw his captivatingly beautiful face - dark black hair all scruffy and spiked, a set of mysterious onyx eyes which drew me to him, and an aura I absolutely couldn't take my eyes off of.

He caught my gaze on him while I was admiring his features. Our eyes met, and though it was our first meeting, I found a peculiar sense of familiarity with him. His eyes told me that he felt the same way.

He frowned at me. For prying into his room, I presume. I gulped and forced a smile at my neighbour. He looked slightly surprised at my reaction, and his face lit up. Not into a smile, but somewhere between a puzzled look and an amused one.

After that fateful day, I would sit around at my balcony more than often, hoping to see him in his dark room again. Occasionally, I would see him there, staring off into the distance, as if he had too much on his mind to work out. His brows furrowed, and a deep frown marred his attractive features. Seeing him like that made me uneasy, for reasons I was afraid to know.

My parents entrapped me to greater lengths a few months later, trying to send me off to arranged meetings with a bunch of guys I had absolutely no interest in. My efforts to protest proved to be futile, and there were times when I felt like my life was worthless; I was just a mere puppet.

But whenever I sat alone in my balcony, crying my eyes out at my horrible fate, he would be there, his onyx eyes on my emerald ones. He gave a slight, almost invisible smile which lifted my spirits to no end. As if he knew what happened to me without having to explain myself. And as if he gave me a long string of encouraging words, I continued to persevere through with the arranged marriage attempts.

I tried asking my parents to get chummy with the family next door, but apparently they heard rumours that the Uchihas were people we shouldn't associate ourselves with. I scoffed at my parents' notion to believe in hoaxes, but I could do no more than look forward to my next rendezvous with him at my balcony.

Months have passed and eventually, years.

I would hear loud lectures from a hoarse voice next door - which I believed to be Uchiha-kun's father. The lectures always ended with the same sentence: 'Sasuke, why can't you be more like your brother Itachi?' The yelling got more frequent and recently, I would hear loud commotions in the wee hours of the morning.

I was worried about him. But every time I went to my balcony to try to ask him if he was okay, he would shake his head, imploring me not to ask, trying to show that he was fine with that confident and prideful demeanour of his.

One night, there were screams and shrieks from his house, followed by an eerie, out-of-place silence. The neighbours felt that there was something amiss, so together with my parents, they entered the house when no one came to the door.

They forbade me to follow. Said it was a bad omen.

I sat at my balcony staring at the night sky, the twinkling stars shining especially bright that night. A silhouette caught my eye. I turned, and there he was, sitting in his dark room. Something felt weird, something was wrong - I knew the very second I laid my eyes on him.

He felt my eyes on him and turned to me. My heart skipped a beat when our eyes met. He was shattered, so broken up, suddenly...so fragile. He was trembling, and his onyx orbs, they looked dead.

I wished I could just leap over to his window and hold him. He needed someone to be there, he needed warmth so much from the freezing hell he looked like he went through.

Dragging his feet to his window, he opened it and for the first time, I could see his face up close. But if this was what it took for me to see my neighbour's face clearly, then I wished I never did step out of my balcony at all.

Glinting wet tears welled in his eyes as he looked at me, as if I was the only person left in the world. He needed me so, so much. I narrowed my viridian eyes and outstretched my hand to his face, even though I knew it wouldn't reach him. He leaned closer and to my surprise, it did.

I was on the brink of falling down from the second floor, but I paid it no heed. Caressing his face, I wiped his tear off with my thumb, trying to show him how much I wanted to be there for him. He gritted his teeth, trying to stop the tears from flowing, but it never did. It must have been embarrassing for a guy to cry, something about tainting his pride or something. Holding my outstretched hand into his own, he held my hand so tightly, as if he was afraid I'd let go. I gave a light smile, and whispered. "It's okay." again and again. To my surprise, both our faces were wet with tears.

We stood there for an eternity too short. The neighbours banged his door and asked if anyone was around. He rubbed his face with the back of his hand, clearing all evidence of the wetness in his eyes. We held on to each other's hand, our fingers entwined and lingered for a moment, not wanting to let go, as much as we had to.

He stared at me and mouthed.

"Thank you..."

"...Sakura."

He let go of me, and I felt as if I've lost a big part of my soul. He proceeded to answer the door as I retreated back into the quiet quarters of my room.

The next day, I found out from my parents that a serial killer had broke into his house and murdered everyone in his family, save for him. His brother had apparently shielded him from harm. My heart fell into the abyss, stunning me. I ran to my room, flung open the window and went out to the balcony.

His room was empty.

And never again did I see him from that same balcony.

Soon, my parents had found someone they wanted as my betrothed. My betrothed was someone I wanted to behead.

I was still young, really. But my parents had this theory that when you live in the countryside, you have to marry early to snag the good fortune latent in the area. Ridiculous.

I tried to seek salvation from him once again. And this time, a mere stunning smile would no longer suffice. I flooded myself with false hope, hoping that he'd be there, giving me a confident smirk like he owned the world.

But he wasn't. I was greeted by the same, quiet empty room that has been for the past two months. My heart was hollow. The only thing left which I could feel was the lingering warmth of our encircling fingers that night. I continued to watch him, to wait for him, even though he was no longer there.

I never did dare to plan an escape, because I had nowhere else to go. But now, I had a reason to leave: I wanted to see him again, for one last time.

I love you, Sasuke. And it didn't take very long on that balcony for me to realise.

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**A/N:** Suddenly inspired to write this one night. In a funny b-story, this could be Sasuke and Sakura in their next lives following the incidents of Rokudaime Hokage: Uchiha Sasuke. :P But no specific implications on this, so you can make your own deductions.

A oneshot, but I could see all sorts of possibilities branching out from this one chapter. (Sequel?)

Let me know what you think! All reviews are highly appreciated. :D

P.S.** Review!**


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